This is the title of a book that was recommended to me before I entered the Aspirantate, officially the first phase of formation to the religious life. It is a biography of the Co-foundress of our Congregation, Saint Mary Domenica Mazzarello.
I do not remember much of that book. Her life was very simple, nothing extraordinary, in the sense of strange mystical experiences. But having been in the Congregation for half of my life, I have come to know the woman behind the title Co-foundress of our Institute.
One of her most memorable lines was a prayer after she contracted an almost mortal typhoid. It radically changed her life. This is a rough translation of that prayer:
"Lord, if in your goodness You will grant me recovery from this illness, let me live my life forgotten by all except by You".
The irony is, this woman who asked to be forgotten is followed as a model of life by all Salesian Sisters throughout the world, is loved and venerated by the Church as a saint.
Maria Mazzarello remained true to her promise to live a hidden life, but it didn't mean withdrawing herself from the world. Instead, she lived her state of life, her vocation, to the full, but with that interior fire of doing everything for Jesus.
Her life is still relevant for me and for all of us today. In her brief life she has discovered the secret: Jesus. As St. Teresa of Avila said, "He who has God has everything".
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